Israel will not be the only team on foreign terrain when they run out at the new Wembley. Although many of Steve McClaren's squad have participated in friendlies at the radically reconstructed national stadium, Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier represents England's first competitive fixture at a still far from familiar arena.

Just as the first few weeks after moving into a new house can feel a little weird, footballers can take time to adapt to altered surroundings and the fear is that England may suffer the sense of initial dislocation occasionally experienced by sides whose clubs relocate to new grounds.

It is a syndrome Neil Cox is well acquainted with. Now at Crewe Alexandra, Cox has switched to newly built stadiums three times during his career - from the Old Show Ground to Glanford Park with Scunthorpe United, from Ayresome Park to The Riverside with Middlesbrough and from Burnden Park to The Reebok while at Bolton Wanderers.

"Moving grounds definitely has an effect on players," he said. "It was particularly noticeable with Middlesbrough when we first trained on the Riverside pitch. It was a different sort of grass from Ayresome Park and, at the first, the ball was going all over the place when you tried to pass it. I remember it would either move too quickly or too slowly and players kept changing their studs.

"The other thing that took a bit of adjusting to was that it seemed a bigger pitch than Ayresome Park's. We were told that wasn't the case and the dimensions were virtually the same but it didn't feel like that when it came to things like crossing and trying to close the opposition down," he added.

In reality Boro's players were victims of an optical illusion. "It just felt larger because the stadium itself was bigger and the stands were further away from the pitch than at Ayresome," said Cox, who, like his newly promoted team-mates, recovered from such teething troubles in time to beat a Chelsea side featuring Ruud Gullit 2-0 in Boro's first home Premier League game of the 1995-96 season.

"Like Glanford Park and The Reebok there were a lot of fantastic things about The Riverside but, as is usually the case at new grounds including The Emirates, I did think the atmosphere suffered at first," said Cox. "Fans take time to get used to new stadiums and they are often much quieter at the beginning, which is possibly because they often end up getting split up from the groups of people they've sat alongside for years."

Although Cox believes England's players will "rise to the occasion and really enjoy playing Israel at the new Wembley", he does believe shiny new arenas frequently bring out the best in the opposition. "New stadiums inspire visiting players; they often help away teams," he insisted. "Not least because they are generally very comfortable with good facilities. It's different at certain older stadiums - particularly lower down the leagues - where opposing sides can sometimes find their dressing room is unheated in winter and sauna-like in summer, lacks hot water and has puddles on the floor."

Aware of the dangers inherent in being too considerate a host, Bolton's former manager, Sam Allardyce used to attempt to upset continental visitors to the Reebok by narrowing the pitch for European fixtures.

"Slightly different pitch dimensions are allowed for Uefa Cup games so, when Bolton were in Europe, Sam had new lines drawn to narrow the playing surface. The theory was that it would be easier for Bolton to close the other team down," explained Cox. "But I think he also used it as a pyschological ploy."

Psychology loomed large on Sunderland's agenda when they moved into the Stadium of Light. Bob Murray, the then chairman, took advice from experts on the subconscious and ordered that, whereas the home dressing room was painted vibrant red and white, the away team's changing area should be coloured a mixture of mustard and anaemic blue, these being "energy-sapping" shades. Moreover visiting players were initially denied pegs upon which to hang their clothes, the theory being that they would be distracted by the prospect of their Armani suits becoming crumpled.

Nevertheless Peter Taylor, who served as England's caretaker coach before supervising Hull City's transfer to the KC Stadium, insists matches are won and lost on the pitch and that accurate passing will always be more important than dressing-room feng shui. "Away sides inevitably raise their game at fabulous new grounds," explained the Crystal Palace manager. "But if home teams are good enough they should definitely be able to handle those situations."